Butcher On the Backfoot

[CrimsonAvenger]

http://allafrica.com/stories/201103160003.html

Kandy, Sri Lanka — ZIMBABWE coach Alan Butcher said his team did not perform to expectations at the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup despite having their best possible preparations for the tournament, including a seven-day training camp in Dubai, where they worked with Brian Lara.

The Englishman, giving a review of his team's performance after they finally crashed out of this tournament with a seven-wicket defeat at the hands of Pakistan on Monday night, said his boys could have certainly done more had they played to the best of their abilities.

Zimbabwe were badly let down by their batting, failing to reach 200 against the four Test playing nations in Group A - Australia, Pakistan (in a rain-ravaged game), New Zealand and Sri Lanka, and usually losing the frontline batsmen with very little on the board.

"We haven't been in contention in matches against the stronger nations," Butcher said.

"We had hoped we would perform well enough to spring one surprise but, to be honest, we have not come close to that.

"I think in some part we have, but as a collective unit we haven't played as well as we would have hoped, anything like as well as we had prepared because I don't think we would have prepared much better."

Butcher had challenged his troops to put together one good batting show, as a unit, in their final onslaught against Pakistan where a win could have kept their faint hopes alive of going into the Super Eight.

The Englishman believed that his team could defend a total, of at least 200, and challenged his main batsmen to come to the party.

But Zimbabwe lost their prized wicket with the fifth ball of Abdur Razzak over when Brendan Taylor was caught behind and they limped to 13-3 after Regis Chakabva went for a duck and Vusi Sibanda edged into the slips for five.

Asked whether his team had responded, with Craig Ervine doing some repair work with his half century and skipper Elton Chigumbura coming handy at the end, Butcher said his boys had again let themselves down.

"Unfortunately, pretty much the same as the game before and the game before that," said Butcher. "Everybody in the dressing room, particularly the batters, are very unhappy with the way things are.

"None of them has gone out there trying to give their wickets away. They have all worked hard and it's just that at this moment in time things are not going well for 80 percent of our batting unit.

"Sometimes in any team that happens and the only thing you can do is to keep practicing and identifying areas we think we can improve on and devise ways for that to happen. There is no magic formula and, as everyone will say, just keep going. I think you can tell from the fielding and the way the spinners battled against the conditions that there is no lack of spirit."

With the ICC toying around with the idea of having a 10-team World Cup in 2015, Butcher was inevitably confronted with the question about whether Zimbabwe could compete at a level to be the 10th team in that tourney.

"Well that looks like a distinct possibility (10-team World Cup), although I think the damages, perhaps, in the overall scheme of things would be on the Associate countries and those who don't make the 10, whether the funding for development will remain the same.

"We'll have to make sure that we improve, which we will be doing anyway, and make sure that we are part of the 10."

Butcher said there were a lot of things that his technical team and their pool of players needed to work on when they return home to convert themselves into a competitive unit and also handle the pressure better so that they can showcase their talents.

Zimbabwe will return to the Test arena later this year with a showdown against Bangladesh.

Butcher believes a return to the Test arena could also help his team.

"I think this will provide some part of the solution in terms of experience but there are other things that we need to work on the individuals concerned and with the other players who didn't make the trip,' said Butcher.

"There are many things that we need to work on and certainly playing regularly, playing Test cricket, will help our batting even in One-Day cricket.

"It's not gonna happen overnight as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh found out when they came into Test cricket and so we are in for a tough ride."

Butcher had earlier said while he expected his team to make some form of impact, if they played to the best of their levels, he always felt this World Cup had come a little too earlier for Zimbabwe as it emerges from a trying period for the game.

"I felt that at the start of this World Cup that the tournament was probably a bit soon for this group of players," said Butcher.

"In four years time, they will be older, wiser, more experienced, better technically and, hopefully, a few more would have come into the side. I think in the future you will see a better and more competitive Zimbabwe team.

"I doubt if they will be world beaters the way Australia have been or West Indies, India or Pakistan but I think we could be a competitive side and one that teams could fear because of our ability to spring a surprise on our day."

Butcher said they had to get the basics right. "If I'm brutally honest, and we had this conversation with the players a couple of days ago, there are technical deficiencies that are letting them down," he said.

"Whereas most international coaches are probably not working on eradicating technical faults because the system has got players to test cricket at a reasonable level, as far as technique is concerned, we are asked to work at that level and we are trying to get that part sorted out and while you are trying to organise yourselves, it's difficult to worry about the opponents or get time to analyse the opposition so much.

"I can't fault the way the players have tried to put it right, they have worked very hard in the nets and the coaching staff have been excellent in trying to help players overcome the problems of scoring runs. But for everybody, myself, the players and the coaching staff, it's very frustrating."